Dark of the Light
by DugFinn
Summary: AU sort of. Ryou's memories of his family, the Ring, and of Bakura, all before he met Yugi and the crew. It's slight shonen ai.If you like this, then check out the continuation at: mediaminer, under the title: Insert Cool YuGiOh! Related Title


-1First off let me start by saying YuGiOh! in English sucks. /Very badly/ - But the Japanese version is pretty awesome. This is based off of the Japanese version. It takes place before Bakura Ryou meets Yugi before the beginning of the series.

Light of the Dark

Ryou locked the door as he dropped his school bag onto the floor. Another boring day. Another pointless day. Ryou sighed and let his weight fall against the metal frame of the door. He hated this; his existence. It all seemed so trivial. Then it got worse.

Another sigh escaped the white haired boy as he pushed away from the door and continued his path further into the room. He left his backpack where it lay. No need for it tonight.

A long time ago, Ryou remembered things had been different. His father, as far as he could remember had always been on the road, but he'd always come back to visit. Always at least for the weekends anyway. He'd always bring him back treasures from his travels. Of course, that was all when mom was still around. He rarely ever came home nowadays. In fact, Ryou hadn't seen his father, or even spoken to him in several years.

"I might as well be dead, for all he cares…" Ryou whispered into the dark living room. He never turned the lights on anymore. It was as if no one actually lived in this house. It was as if he were already a ghost, and all he did was haunt this place - this place, full of memories.

It had been the day before Christmas. Everyone was excited. Ryou wasn't even seven years old yet, but this was the most excited he'd ever seen his mother. She smiled and sang to herself as she twirled around and prepared the Christmas dinner. His father had been gone for an unusually long time. Almost two weeks. There was this dig in Egypt and he was one of the heads for the conservation of artifacts found for the National Japanese Museum of Tokyo Japan. His father was supposed to have come back a week ago, but right before he left, they made this wonderful discovery and found a sealed up tomb of some sort. Ryou didn't know much about it other than it was important and everyone was very happy about it. But, it was making his father miss Christmas.

_"Don't worry about it, Ryu-chan!" she beamed. "You're father's never missed Christmas with us, and he never will!" Ryou didn't doubt her. He had no reason to. "I have an important secret to tell him," she winked. "So he has to come. You'll see." And just like she promised, his father showed up that very night. The night of Christmas Eve. He hugged and kissed his mom and told her all about the expedition. Then he turned to Ryou._

_"I know it's not time yet, but I might as well give you your present now since you've been such a good boy." He flipped his duffle bag open and pulled out another box. It was big and flat. He gave it to Ryou and ruffled up his long white hair. "Merry Christmas!"_

_The box was heavy in Ryou's little boy hands, but nevertheless he took the precious prize and carefully unwrapped it while giggling and trying to straighten out his unruly hair again. As he pulled the lid off his eyes went wide at the site inside. There lay a circular ring with five attached spikes. The top sported a hoop through which a leather strap was passed forming a necklace. In the center, a triangular plaque held the Egyptian eye of Horus. The most impressive part though, was the fact that it was all made entirely of gold. _

_"I hope you like it," his father said. "You don't even want to know the trouble I went through to acquire it," he laughed nervously._

_"It's beautiful!" his mother exclaimed. "Did you find it at one of the digs! I can't believe you were able to keep something like this!"_

_"Well," he scratched his head and continued to chuckle. "I don't know. I saw it and... Well, I immediately thought of Ryou. I just, I don't know, it's weird. Ever since I found it I just had to give it to Ryou." He squatted down and looked the boy straight in the eyes. "I hope you like it."_

_"I love it!" Ryou gasped. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He loved it immediately._

_"When I found it, the inscriptions called it the Millennium Ring," His father continued. "It say that it draws the Light of Dark to it."_

Ryou scoffed. He stood in the darkness staring at the place in the living room where that had happened all too many years ago. The furniture had long since been rearranged. 'Light of Dark?' He looked away and shut his eyes. He wanted to hate his dad. But he couldn't. "You always loved me." He sighed and tried quelling the tears that threatened to break through. "Why did things go so wrong...?"

Christmas morning was dead silent. Ryou's parents had gone to sleep in their room and Ryou in his own. He had taken the Millennium Ring with him. It was mesmerizing, the Ring. The way it glowed, the way it shinned. It was perfect. Ryou loved it completely.

_He dreamt of Egypt that night, as he fell asleep running his tiny fingers over the Ring. Of the far stretching beautiful sands that glowed like crystals of gold in the firelight. He dreamt he was someone else. Someone with dark tanned skin and wild white hair as silver as the moon. He dreamt that he was underground in a temple and that there were hieroglyphs and large drawings of monsters all over the walls. He dreamt that he ran to a shrine and sitting on it was another boy. He looked just like himself. In fact, it was himself. And he emanated a beautiful light of joy and happiness. It was so bright, his light. And he hated it. He wanted that light. He knew he couldn't have it, but he wanted it. The other boy said he loved him, but he hated him and he wanted his light. And if he couldn't have it, then at least he'd make sure the other boy, the pretty white haired boy, would never have it either. _

_He'd woken up crying and it had been his mother that came into the room. She cuddled him and hugged and whispered that there was nothing to be afraid of. He believed her. He had no reason to doubt her. _

_She was about to leave, but he asked if she would stay longer. At least until he fell asleep. And she agreed._

Ryou opened his eyes again. He stood in the dark living room still. He hated remembering the past. Why did it haunt him still. He looked up at the familiar ceiling and wondered why they hadn't just moved out of this cursed place. It was filled with so many terrible memories. His eyes dropped back to the living room floor near the fireplace. A ghost image of himself and his mother and his father laughing and playing drifted by. /And so many good one too.../

_In the morning when he woke up, he had been very disturbed by the dream. What had it meant? The anger and hatred he'd felt that night were baffling to his young, innocent mind. He lay in bed pondering the meaning behind it, wondering who the dark skinned boy had been and why he had wanted so terribly to take away his light. _

_Suddenly, and very quite unexpectedly, he was startled and terrified by screams of terror and anguish that rang through out the house. What was going on! The lights in his room were off and he could barely see anything, but he drew the covers up over his head. The sheets felt hard and rough against his skin. They cracked in his palms like they're was something dried on them. Like dried paint. He shut his eyes as the cries became more real and vivid. They were his fathers. And they were so terrible._

Ryou's face was calm and still. He'd remembered and turned this memory over and over in his mind a thousand times before. And another thousands times to come, he expected. It always ended the same. Memories couldn't change. They always stayed the same. Tears unconsciously fell from his eyes and down his expressionless face and into the grooves of his lips. They always tasted the same.

_The police ruled it 'unsolved'. Ryou's mother had been brutally killed that night. There had been blood all over the house. As if her bleeding body had been dragged all over the place. Or maybe she had tried to run. No one knew. A lot of the blood had been in Ryou's room. In his bed. Ryou himself was covered in it. The Ring was covered in it. There had been tiny hand prints in blood, as if decorations in a kindergarten class, all over the walls. And drawings. Of pyramids and monsters and strange writings. They belonged to Ryou. The police questioned him. But he couldn't answer. The father had been questioned as well, but he was cleared. No evidence. It all pointed to Ryou, but how could a six year old physically do something like that. It was impossible. _

_The police ruled it 'unsolved'... _

Ryou wiped the tears away from his eyes and took a deep, long breath then walked away to his room upstairs.

Everything changed after that. Ryou's father stopped talking to him. Ryou eventually found out that that very night, she had confessed to him that she was pregnant. He didn't know how to feel. Ryou knew, even as young as he had been, what people thought. He sometimes would catch them talking about it. They said he killed his mother. Ryou wondered if it was true. His Ring had been covered in her blood. His hands had been covered in it too.

Eventually Ryou's father just stopped coming home. And Ryou stopped caring. And now all the lights remained turned off. And Ryou haunted this place as if a lost ghost.

The white haired boy walked into his room on the second story and unzipped his blue jacket. It was part of his school uniform along with the blue pants and the white undershirt he wore. He left the jacket on. He never turned the AC on, but his house always remained unusually cold. As he turned to fall onto his bed the slight clink of metal sounded from under his white shirt. He reached in and pulled out the Millennium Ring and let it rest against his chest. He always wore it, tied around his neck by the same leather strap as when he received it. It rested heavy against his heart.

Ryou had tried to get on with his life. His father obviously had. Even found another woman who, quite conveniently, lived far, far away. But no matter what he did, it always remained the same. Darkness followed him wherever he went; whatever he did.

Friends of his from school mysteriously started falling into comas after playing games with him. Even teachers. Concerned teachers that had only tried to help him fell victim. Eventually people started to fear him as well as avoid. Ryou thought it fair and just. He'd fear and avoid himself too if he could. But he couldn't. No matter what he did. And it wouldn't stop.

Ryou sat up and felt the weight of the Ring against his neck. Despite everything that had happened and that continued to happen, he still loved the Ring. It was the only thing left in his life that held any value for him. And it held a secret too. One that only he knew about.

Shortly after the incident, involving his mother's death, his friends falling into comas, and people avoiding him, Ryou became very lonely and fell into a depression. His father as well avoided him and Ryou used to cry himself to sleep at nights. He would sometimes hear singing, a hypnotic singing, and although he couldn't understand it, it would lull him fast into sleep. That's when he started having the dreams of Egypt. Almost every night they came to him. They were always different. Sometimes they took place outside in the daylight; sometimes at night. Sometimes they were in temples or big palaces, or sometimes in caves or tombs. Sometimes they were fun... And sometimes they were terrible. And always, there was the dark skinned man.

Because he looked just like him, Ryou eventually came to call him Bakura. Only that first night, the night of his mother's death, had he seen himself through Bakura's eyes. Now he saw Bakura through his own eyes. Bakura's age always shifted in the dreams. Sometimes he looked like he was twelve, or sometimes twenty-three, and sometimes around thirty-four. But, he always carried a long scar under his eye and down his cheek. There was a very special distinction about Bakura though. He always seemed darker than everyone else that appeared in the dream. Almost as if he walked through black mist, or like a haze of dark surrounded him. It was strange, but Ryou found it mesmerizing.

Some of the happiest dreams took place when Bakura was only six. But also the worst one took place when he was six. The one in which his own mother died. It was the only time Ryou felt his own heart ache in the dreams and he suddenly felt so much more closer to Bakura than he would have thought possible.

Sometimes Ryou would wake up longing to fall asleep again and keep dreaming, and sometimes he'd wake up screaming and swear he'd never fall asleep again. It was always different. And it was always the same. Like memories that couldn't change. It was around this time, when Ryou had reached twelve years old or so, that he made an amazing discovery. Bakura was real.

As usual, he was desperately lonely. His father almost never came home. The house was paid off for and had been in the family for generations and all the bills were paid automatically through his father's account. In essence, Ryou ate every now and then and went to school. Other than that, he practically did nothing. Not even homework. He didn't have to. The teachers passed him anyways. They didn't want him in their class. Passing him ensured that he would eventually move out of their class and into someone else's.

In one of his desperate acts of depression, Ryou once tried to kill himself. He'd gone with the traditional slit your wrists approach, but as he lay dieing, a dream came to him. This one was different though. As were all the dreams hence after. In it, Bakura actually spoke to him and acknowledged his existence and it took place not in Egypt, but in his very bedroom.

_/You're dying./_

_Ryou stirred and opened his eyes, "Wha-? Who's there? Who are you?"_

_/I'm you./_

_"What?" Ryou shook his head. Was he seeing doubles? Right in front of himself he could clearly see another Ryou._

_/At least, I want to be./_

_The dying boy sat up and tried to clear his head. "What? Who are you?" Now he could see better and although the boy in front of himself looked the same, there were obvious differences. He looked older by just a bit. His body was heavier with more muscles and his hair was slightly darker, a platinum silver as opposed to his white. The skin, though, was white like his, not dark and tanned. Also, his eyes were not brown. They were black. And he held a concerned look on his face. The aura of black darkness remained, surrounding him, like in the dreams, and only now did Ryou actually see how evil it made the other boy look._

_/You can't die. Not yet./_

_Bakura stood up and started to walk away. Ryou noticed that he seemed almost transparent. He could see objects through him. /Am I going insane/ _

_The other boy stopped and looked over his shoulder. He smiled. /Maybe./_

_When he woke up the next day, he found his wrists bandaged and food prepared sitting next to the bed. "What the..?" It had been strange, but he ate the food anyway. He hadn't realized how hungry he was. He hadn't been eating very well. For the past few years actually. He weighted practically nothing. It was then that it dawned on him that his hair was very long. Almost down to his waist. Strange that he would notice something like that now. Not that he cared. _

It was weeks before Ryou saw Bakura again.

_He came home one day. A bully at school had bothered him after class. As horrible as that had been, Ryou had liked it. At least someone had talked to him. Even if it was only name-calling and threats. A few days later though, he learned that the boy had fallen into a comma. He felt a little sad. He knew it was his fault. He didn't know how, but he knew it was._

_/He bothered you./ Ryou turned to see Bakura standing in his living room. /I won't let anyone bother you./_

_Ryou should have been freaked out. He knew he should have been, but he wasn't. He'd seen Bakura so many times before in his dreams that he actually felt like the other boy was his brother. At least, if not his brother, then the only friend he actually had. "Did you do it?" he asked. "Did you make him fall into a coma?"_

_Bakura smiled. /I did it./_

_Suddenly Ryou became afraid. He'd never felt fear like this before. "Did you..." It was a thought that had turned in his mind a few times before, a few thousand times, but he'd never acknowledged it. Never dared. But here was his chance to finally find out. Once and for all. "Did.. Did you kill my mom?"_

_Bakura didn't answer. He just looked at Ryou with cold eyes. _

_Ryou shook his head. "I'm going insane," he chuckled. "I have to be going insane. You're not real. None of this is-"_

_/I killed her./ Ryou froze and stopped breathing. /I used your hands to kill her. We both did it./ _

_Ryou turned back and shook his head. "No..." he whispered._

_/We both killed your mother. We used this./ Bakura stepped up to Ryou and put his hand on the Millennium Ring. /I couldn't stand the way she made you feel/ he spoke as he let his hands slowly touch Ryou's face._

_"No!" The white haired boy pushed away and ran up the stairs. "Leave me alone! Leave me alone! I hate you! I hate you!" he screamed, but it was useless. Bakura was already in his room when he got there. "Why!" Ryou shouted. "Why!" He covered his face with his hands and shivered into a gasping fit. "God… Why!"_

_/God had nothing to do with it./ Bakura looked nonchalant. /I told you, I couldn't stand the way she made you feel./_

_Ryou shook his head and fell to his knees, his vision a blur of tears. "I hate you.." he sobbed. "I hate you!"_

_/No, you don't./ He felt Bakura standing over him. /You said so the moment you saw me./ Ryou looked up and gasped as Bakura fell down encircling his arms around the other boy. /You said you love me. You did. I felt it! I saw your light! It almost blinded me! And I'll never let you love anything except me/ Ryou screamed and pushed away again, only to find nothing there. He was alone in his dark room. There was no one else there. _

Ryou had one of the best dreams that night. It was of Bakura when he was a little kid. It was sickeningly sweet. Ryou threw up when he awoke in the morning. He finally knew who Bakura was.

_"You're this thing!" he practically spit out when he saw Bakura a few days later. He held up the golden object tied around his neck. "This Millennium Ring, aren't you?" . _

_The other boy smiled. /Close. Not quite. Haven't you been paying attention to the dreams/_

_Ryou didn't care. "You killed my mom!" he accused._

_/We did/ Bakura corrected him._

_"Shut up! You did," Ryou screamed. "I hate you! Why won't you go away!"_

_/You don't hate me, Ryou/ the slightly taller boy said. _

_"Yes, I do!"_

_/Then why do you still wear the Ring/ Bakura smirked._

_Ryou became a blank. It had never even occurred to him to take it off. Never. Almost like it was unfathomable to do so. Unimaginable. And the sudden thought of parting with it just seemed painful, even wrong._

_/You've always known/ Bakura continued. /You always knew./ He grew closer to Ryou. /And you did nothing to stop it./_

_The white haired boy grasped his arms and fell to his knees. "Stop it. Please. Just go away..."_

_Bakura leaned down beside Ryou and pulled him to himself. They looked almost like identical twins. /Never. You're light's too bright. I want it too bad. I'll never leave you. Never./_

Several days passed. Days in which Ryou didn't eat, didn't sleep, didn't even move. And Bakura never left his side. Sometimes they talked.

_"Why me?"_

_/You were convenient./_

_"Convenient?" Ryou laughed at the absurdness. He wondered if he'd gone completely insane. Sometimes he wondered if he hadn't been from the beginning. "What could possibly be so convenient about me?"_

_The other boy simply looked at him for a few seconds as if judging him. /Ryou, I'm kidding. You weren't convenient./ He sighed and looked up at the ceiling. They were both sprawled out on the plush carpet floor in Ryou's bedroom. /In fact, you were very inconvenient./_

_Again Ryou laughed. "I was the inconvenient one?" He was pretty sure he was insane. He had to be by now. _

_/You should eat something Ryou./ Bakura suddenly said, sitting up._

_"Why?"_

_There was an awkward pause. /You're light's fading./_

_"So?" Ryou didn't care anymore. He hated this. He wasn't alive anymore. He was only pretending. He didn't want to pretend anymore. "I'm not hungry."_

_/You're too thin. You need to eat./_

_Ryou turned to look at Bakura. "What do you care?" He suddenly found himself face to face with the other boy, his black eyes orbs of seemingly endless dark. Bakura crawled over towards him._

_/I care/ he said and place one hand on either side or Ryou's head. /I care about you. I want you're light./_

_Ryou pushed his arm out and touched Bakura's shoulder. He wanted to feel the other boy's existence. See if he was actually there or just a figment of his delusions. The touch was quite solid. "Are you really my Ring?" Even then, Ryou still wore it. He wasn't sure why. He just didn't want to take it off. He felt lonely without it. As long as he had the Ring he felt that at least he had one person. Even if it was Bakura. _

_The silver haired boy didn't respond. He leaned back and laid down on the carpet again. /I'm not the damned Ring/ he huffed. /And you're going to eat./_

_Ryou flinched slightly at Bakura's harsh words and curled into a little ball. "Who are you..?" he whispered after a few moments of silence._

_/I'm your Dark./_

_Ryou looked up, uncurling from the fetal position. /My Dark/_

_The other boy nodded. He pulled Ryou closer so that they were laying side by side. /A long time ago, I was done real wrong, horrible wrong, and I was put in that Ring/ he spoke as he touched the metallic object. His hands continued onto Ryou's back and began soothing it. /All I have left are my memories. And I've shared them with you./_

_The soft gliding motion of Bakura's hands running down Ryou's back made the white haired boy sigh and nuzzle into Bakura's chest. He hated Bakura, but he desperately longed for any sort of physical touch. He desperately longed for his mother. /I don't want your memories./_

_/What do you want/_

_Tears started falling from Ryou's eyes. He couldn't help it. He grabbed onto Bakura and loudly cried into his shoulder. /I want my mom/ he sobbed. /I want my life! I want.. I want../ he wailed, no longer caring what he said. /I want my family! And Christmas! And friends! And presents! And... I... I want my dad to want me! And I want.. Someone to want me.../ He hiccupped as he wrapped his arms around Bakura. /I want my mom/ he said again. /I want her to be alive./ He stopped and slowly, almost as an afterthought, added/I want me not to have killed her./_

_Bakura let Ryou squeeze into him, using him like a security blanket. /I can't fix that Ryou/ he whispered. /You can have me. I'll never leave you. Not like you're mother. Not like your father. Not like you're friends-/_

_/You took them all away from me/ Ryou cut in sharply._

_/Do you want me to go away/ Bakura growled and started to get up._

_/No/ Ryou shouted and clung to him, keeping him from moving. /You can't do that to me! You can't take everything away and then you go too! You can't do that, you bastard! I want you-/ Ryou halted and looked scared. He didn't finish his sentence. He was afraid of finishing it. _

_/You want me Ryou/ Bakura smirked. He let his arm fall on the other boy again and pull him in. _

_Ryou shook his head, but let himself be pulled in. /I hate you./ He felt bad. It was Bakura's fault that everything terrible had happened in his life, and here he was practically cuddling with the monster. /I hate you./_

_/Fine then/ the silver haired fiend shrugged, baiting the boy. /I'll leave./_

_/No.../ Ryou whispered. /Don't/ he begged. /I'm sorry. Don't go./_

_/I thought you wanted me to leave/ Bakura continued. _

_Ryou balled his fists and screamed/Stop taunting me! Why do you have to-! You just-! Agh! I hate you and I never want you to leave me! You jerk! I'll never forgive you! You.../ Ryou began crying sharply again. /I hate you./ He clung to Bakura. /I hate you. I hate you so much./ He felt so cheap. /Please don't leave me... You're all I have left./_

_He stayed like that for a long time. He fell asleep. And he didn't dream that night. He simply slept and felt dead to the world. _

Ryou lay on his bed remembering that night. He'd popped off his school shoes just a second ago and could already feel the chill of the room creeping up his legs, but his school jacket was still on, keeping it at bay. That night had been the first night that Bakura stayed with him. Almost no night had passed since then that he hadn't stayed. They didn't say much. Bakura sometimes taunted him, and Ryou sometimes cried, but nothing constructive really ever resulted. It was a sad sort of union. One of desperation, convenience and loneliness.

/Hey/ Bakura appeared crouching over Ryou on the bed. /You went to school today./

It was funny, but Ryou had found Bakura to be a rather interesting companion. A jealous sort of evil, demonic, homicidal abomination, but an interesting friend non the less. Of course, sometimes he still thought he might just be insane.

"Yeah," he spoke out loud. Awhile back he'd discovered he could just speak in his mind and Bakura would still understand him. /I figured I should at least try keeping up the school boy act./

/Oh? Why/ Bakura cocked his head.

The other boy shrugged. "Bored? I don't know. Seemed like the thing to do."

Bakura smiled. /You look better./

Ryou shrugged. "Whatever." Bakura had made sure that Ryou began eating again. Under threat, of course, but it had garnished spectacular results. He looked up at the spirit that inhabited the Ring. /Um, Bakura/

/What/ the other boy dropped down next to Ryou's prone body.

/A long time ago/ he began/You once said something like, You wanted my light. What did you mean/

/Ah, that/ Bakura laughed. /That's easy. You're too bright./ He chuckled and rolled on top of Ryou. Strangely, he held no weight. /I mean you're light. It's so intense. So bright. I love it. I want it. I don't have it. And I want it even more./

/You're not making any sense/ Ryou shook his head. He was used to Bakura being close to him now. He liked it.

Bakura sighed. /You should understand/ he closed his eyes and moved his hand over the Millennium Ring. /It's why you still wear it./ Ryou simply looked at Bakura still not understanding. /It's a need you feel, deep within. It's a darkness you crave for./

A loud laughter emanated from Ryou. He almost choked. "You are so full of it, Bakura." He kept laughing. He'd learned that laughing was the same as crying, only it didn't stain your face red or get it wet.

/No, I'm serious/ Bakura laughed too. /You can feel it can't you? I'm the dark you want./

Ryou slowly stopped laughing. /I don't know what I want anymore./

/You want me./

A clog hooked itself in Ryou's throat. /It scares me to think.../ He paused. /That.. You might be right./

/Of course I am. Do you think it's coincidence that we look alike? Or that we have the same name/

"We do?" Ryou sat up. "I never even asked what your name was. I just called you Bakura because you looked like me."

/Surprise, surprise./

/You're messing with me./

Bakura sat in Ryou's lap. He was in a good mood. /Nope. We have a history, you and me./ He poked Ryou in the forehead. /It goes back 3000 years./

/Oh right, I'm like some reincarnation of you're good side from when you sold yourself off to the god of darkness and you've traveled 3000 years into the future to make us whole again./

/Bingo/

"What! You're lying!" It was too absurd for Ryou to even think it could be a possibility.

/No, you got the gist of it. You're my Light; my Hikari./

One the one hand, it was simply ridiculous, Ryou surmised, but on the other hand, having the demon thing presently straddling his waist was somewhat convincing as to the authenticity of anything being possible. /Are you.. Serious/

/Would I lie to you/ Bakura wrapped his arms around the other's shoulders.

Ryou gave him a skeptical look, but let it slide. He sighed. /So what now/

/You give me your Light./

A small scoff escaped Ryou. /And what do I get in return/

/My Dark./

/I don't want it./

/Yes, you do./

Ryou sighed. Bakura might be right; he might be wrong. He was tired and it just didn't seem important anymore. It didn't matter anymore. It wouldn't change anything. /Do what ever you want./ He laid back, Bakura falling over him like a parasite refusing to dislodge from his host. /I'm tired./ Brown eyes closed and Ryou quickly fell fast asleep. He didn't fear Bakura anymore. He didn't even hate him anymore. In fact, he really didn't feel anything anymore. He was just tired.

He awoke in a temple. It was covered in hieroglyphs and large carvings with huge reliefs of monsters and humans playing in the dancing light of the fire. It was nothing new to him. He'd seen this temple a thousand times before. Bakura was there, of course, in his Egyptian style dark maroon robe and beige cotton linen outfit. His skin was dark and he held the familiar scar under his eye. His hair was a dirty silver and his eyes glowed a silver grey. And all around him swirled the black miasma of darkness clouding his being. This dream was different though. It seemed more real. It was too sharp. Too vivid. It scared Ryou a little.

/You shouldn't be scared Ryou. This is a beautiful place./

/What is it/ Ryou asked. He'd never actually found out.

Bakura walked up a set of stairs leading to a platform and rested his hands on a large slab of jet black marble that had the glow of obsidian. /Look/ he called to Ryou who ascended the stairs and joined him. /It's my tomb./

Ryou flashed Bakura a surprised face, and quickly turned back to look at the large rectangular structure. It was a massive stone coffin.

/I don't think this place exists anymore/ Bakura began. /It was probably destroyed long ago. Along with my body./

It finally hit Ryou like a bag full of bricks. This wasn't a tired old played out memory! This was in real time! Where were they?

/Oh, well. It wasn't important anyway./ Bakura turned, jumped, and sat on the coffin. /I like the atmosphere here. It's warm./

/You have a twisted sense of warmth Bakura/ Ryou couldn't help but say. He instantly regretted it. /I mean... I'm sorry./

Bakura eyed him. /I guess 3000 years of solitude imprisoned in your own grave will do that to you./ He shrugged. /I hated this place/ he whispered as he looked around. /But time, and a little insanity, can do wonders to change your mind/ he smirked. /Wouldn't you agree/

Ryou turned away. Time and a little insanity could do wonders.

/Now it feels like home. I can't imagine leaving this place./

/Where is this place/ Ryou asked.

The silver haired man grinned. /It's my prison. It's your Ring./

It hurt. It hurt knowing that Bakura had been through this. And that he'd made Ryou go through it too. But, who had done this to him/Who killed your mother/ Ryou asked cautiously.

Bakura's eyes instantly grew cold, distant and hateful. /The pharaoh./

Ryou pressed further. /Why/

Bakura turned those same hateful eyes on Ryou and it burned to see them directed at him. /To make this/ Bakura seethed and grabbed the Millennium Ring still around Ryou's neck. /The soul of my mother, my father, my brother, my sister, and everyone in my village, everyone I cared about, everyone I loved, was sacrificed to make these things./ He let it go in disgust.

/These-? There are more/

/Too many/ he gritted his teeth and continued. /They were used as weapons against the pharaoh's enemies. It gave him power and he didn't care that innocent people died to make these abominations. That whole lives where destroyed.../

/Bakura.../ Ryou felt terrible. This was a different person. Was this really Bakura?

/I challenged his power; I swore revenge, and I won... But at the cost of my own soul./

/I'm sorry/ Ryou began. He could feel the tears starting up. He never thought he would shed tears for Bakura.

/I had to give you up/ Bakura said turning and caressing Ryou's face. His voice had become soft again. /I couldn't fight him with you in me. So I let you go. I gave you up and let the darkness consume me, and in doing so, I sealed our fate. I'm so sorry, Ryou. I truly am sorry./

The smaller white haired boy had tears streaming down his face now. Bakura wiped one away. /Bakura/ he cried and ran into him and hugged the other boy, crying uncontrollably into his shoulder. /Bakura! I'm sorry! I'm sorry for everything! I forgive you! I.. I wish... I wish none of this had ever happened to you and that... You'd been happy, and-/

Bakura put his hand on Ryou's mouth and hushed him. /Careful what you say, otherwise you'll never get rid of me./ He was smiling.

Ryou forced a weak, but sincere smile. /I never want you to go away Bakura. I want you, your darkness and your sick demented ways. Whatever you want to give me. I want you to never leave./

/That's nice to hear. Come on/ he suddenly said jumping off the marble slate. /Help me. I've been trying to do this for millennia. I had a lingering suspicion that I'd need your help/ he grinned.

/What/ Ryou watched as Bakura put his hands on the marble lid and pushed. Nothing happened.

/Come on./

/Are you serious! Isn't that, I don't know, sacrilegious/ he balked.

/Why should it be? It's my grave, I can do whatever I want with it./

Ryou still felt uneasy about it, but raised his hands to the lid and pushed. Immediately it gave way and moved slightly.

/I knew it! Harder, Ryou, push harder/ Bakura laughed.

It made the white haired boy's head a little dizzy, but he put his back into it and the lid easily budged another few inches. It was strange, but quite suddenly, and very unexpectedly, Ryou had a longing desire to see the contents. It overwhelmed him and he pushed harder almost sliding the entire lid off in one push. It toppled to the floor behind the coffin and revealed the insides. They were empty.

/What-/ Ryou complained out loud. /The hell was the point then/

/This/ Bakura spoke as Ryou turned to look at him. It shocked him into taking a step back. Bakura was glowing. It wasn't like before, it was almost painfully bright, but it was dark and strangely enticing. Ryou had to bite his bottom lip. It illuminated Bakura's skin with a magnetism; a swirling dark that drew in it's prey expecting a beautiful death. /Can you see it/ he asked, his voice resonating with a quiver of allurance, making Ryou shiver. /Annoying, isn't it? It's what I see in you every time I look at you./

Ryou didn't hear Bakura's words, he felt them, saw through them, understood their true meaning and intent. 'I have to see you like this everyday and you not understand what I see, or what it's like; how it feels.' It was what Bakura had meant. It was like reading his heart; a gem of black onyx cursed with a gold Eye of Horus. 'But now you do; now you know.'

It was very unexpected. Ryou craved that darkness, that black light that emanated from Bakura. It blinded his senses and mesmerized his focus. It was all he could see. It was all he wanted to see. He could stay like this forever. He could stay like this for 3000 years. He'd destroy anything that threatened his possession of it.

/Yeah, that's how it was when I first saw you/ Bakura laughed nervously. /It's why I became so stupidly jealous/ he spoke remembering what he'd made Ryou do that Christmas night. /I guess saying 'sorry about that' is a little pointless now, huh/

Ryou used all his will power to close his eyes in the hopes of turning off the crazy torrent of feelings coursing through his veins.

/That won't work/ Bakura informed him.

Indeed, it didn't. It was actually worse. Now all Ryou could see was the dark. Everything was Bakura now. All the darkness, it was him and it made him want him more; he craved the dark. He opened his eyes again. /Is this what you see when you look at me/

/Yes/ Bakura answered honestly. Ryou could see the honesty; he could feel it. /You're my Light, and I'm your Dark. We're the same soul, Ryou. We always have been./ He moved closer to the other boy. /Do you understand me better now/

/Completely/ Ryou looked away. It hurt a little, like a knife of disappointment stabbing through his chest, not being able to see Bakura. He had to turn back again to make it go away. /How-/ his voice crackled with confusion. It was too difficult, too overwhelming seeing him, but it was worse looking away, like going through withdrawal after years of being on heroin. It made his whole body hurt and shot pain through his very mind.

/You get used to it/ Bakura simply stated. /But it feels better when you're close./ He demonstrated by pulling them together. /A long time ago, we were the same soul/ he whispered. /We've been apart too long. Let's be one now/

Ryou gulped. It did feel better being next to Bakura. It was nice, it felt right, like he was complete; like a part of him that he'd never known had been missing was suddenly put back. He closed his eyes and was amazed at what he saw. It was too beautiful that words could never have made it justice. A light of dark blazed and burned with infinite power. Ryou was almost lost in it's flames; consumed in it's fire. He would have loved for nothing more.

He nodded into his other self. /Give me your Dark and I'll be your Light./


End file.
